On Friday, June 17, at the 2022 International Conference on James Baldwin in Nice, France, First-Year Semester Abroad (FYSA @ GTL) Faculty Director Vicki Birchfield was joined virtually by Vice Provost Steven Girardot and Dr. Lizzy LeRud to talk about FYSA’s first-year teaching curriculum at Georgia Tech-Lorraine.

Their panel presentation—entitled “Baldwin Abroad: Teaching Baldwin’s Life Story, Oeuvre, Activism, and Intellectual Legacy to First-Year Students Studying Abroad in France”—explored the meaning and pedagogical value of Baldwin’s lifework for teaching entering college students traveling abroad in their first Fall semester at Georgia Tech.

Baldwin’s “transatlantic commuting,” as he called it, fueled his intellectual exploration: working at a distance from the United States brought him respite from its debilitating racism as well as a global perspective on the local forces that had formed him. In their panel discussion, Drs. Birchfield, Girardot, and LeRud explored how Georgia Tech students studying abroad in France benefit from a similar kind of distance, launching their college careers in Baldwin’s footsteps.

Each panelist presented on an element of the structure of the FYSA program, an innovative opportunity for first-year college students to build global awareness, leadership skills, intercultural compassion, and deeper self-understanding. Dr. Birchfield opened the discussion, introducing the ways that Baldwin’s life beyond boundaries imparts valuable lessons for college students as they formulate their own worldviews and embrace Baldwin’s injunction to “Decide who you are, and force the world to deal with you, not its idea of you” (From James Baldwin: The Last Interview, p. 27). Dr. LeRud then presented the pedagogical outcomes of FYSA’s English 1101 and 1102 courses, drawing on student reactions to and reflections on Giovanni’s Room, selections from Baldwin’s essays, and, ultimately, a group visit to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, to experience Baldwin’s adopted hometown. Dr. Girardot’s concluding remarks characterized the nature of the program in the broad context of undergraduate education, including its significance for first-year students and the integration of required coursework with academic materials that also introduce students to concepts of global citizenship.

Ultimately, the panelists demonstrated that Baldwin’s story and oeuvre offer a powerful vehicle for engaging with the core concepts that anchor and serve as the through line of the FYSA program: identity, the meaning of place, mindful learning, political and social engagement, intergenerational learning, intercultural sensitivity, and the perspective of a global context.

For more information about First-Year Semester Abroad, contact fysa@gatech.edu.